Friends
by TheQuibblergirl
Summary: Dominique is in love with her best friend but she still doesn't know it. Sam's family is going through some of the roughest times of their lives. Charlie is slowly and reluctantly falling in love. Henry keeps trying to get Lauren back, Fred and James are as mischevious as ever. Contains some bits about Victoire and Teddy and much more...
1. Prologue 1

Friends.

During your life you meet many friends. Friends that are forever. Friends that are friends just for a while. Friends that you can trust, friends that you _can't_ trust, friends that are there just to make you laugh and have a good time and friends that are there with you during the good and the bad.

_ Those_ are your best friends. Those friends that only want the best for you and that will always be there for you. Those friends that you know you can tell anything and they will never spill your secret. Those friends who know you better than they know themselves and that know when you are going through a rough patch. Those friends that sometimes sacrifice your trust and maybe even your friendship just for your safety; even if your friendship means as mush to them as it means to you: everything.

Those friends that are more like annoying brothers or sisters and that you know they will always be there to be a pain in the ass and eat all the food in your house. Those friends that will make you go through a little shame and make fun of you once in a while just for the fun of it and because they know you will always forgive them.

Those friends that would give their life for you same as you would for them. Those friends that are capable of killing anyone that ever hurt you. Those friends that are, after all, your family.

Dominique had friends like that. She had plenty of friends like that, without even counting her endless amount of cousins. She had a lot of best friends, two in particular who were way too special. But Dominique also was in love with someone, someone way too special.


	2. Prolouge 2

There are many different romantic sorties, there are those who fall in love with their nemesis, there are those who fall in love with their best friend's brother or sister. There are those who fall in love at first sight and with a complete stranger. There are those who fall in love with someone that is unreachable. There are those who fall in love with someone that is already taken and there are those who start dating someone and start falling in love with that person and that person corresponds the other as well.

There are many different love stories; tragic ones, with horrid endings were the two lovers and up dead, and those love stories were one's love is not corresponded at all. There are love stories that end up sour, with one person cheating on the other or they end up fighting and separating, were jealousy ends up having control over every move.

But they are also love stories which have happy endings. Love stories that are beautiful to hear or read about. Love stories when the couple ends up getting married and having children and never leaving one another. There are those love stories that break your heart and make you believe that there is someone out there for you.

Chris knew about them all, Chris had heard and read about them all. Chris had seen many of these examples, but Chris had just felt one.

There are those love stories were people fell in love with their best friends.

She was in love with her best friend; he was in love with his best friend. Neither knew about this.

**Please review! Means the world to me!**


	3. AwesomeWorst first day at school

**Disclaimer: everything is JK Rowling's but the plot and the OC characters!**

* * *

The sound of thousands of students talking over dinner and clattering dishes together with knives and forks was everything Dominique could hear; and she loved it. She sat alongside her family on the Gryffindor table and could see Chris at the Ravenclaw table, laughing at one of his mates' jokes. It was a pity they weren't in the same house because they were never able to talk during meals.

Dom had missed her best friends so much during the summer, especially Chris. She had missed his laugh and the way he handled things. She even missed it when he would drum a beat with his hands against his knee every time he got nervous. It was always the same beat and for some reason Dominique loved it.

When she was with Chris, they would always have topics to talk about; even foolish ones, and they would talk and talk for hours about it. Right now though, she had nothing interesting to tell her cousins who she had seen during most of the summer's holiday. She still hadn't seen James or Fred and that was getting her rather upset and pretty nervous.

The young Weasley was getting restless when a loud BAM! was heard and every one inside the Great Hall fell silent. A few seconds later the double doors opened wide and in came Fred and James followed (quite a distance behind) by the ancient caretaker Argus Filch.

Dominique shook her head in disapproval before crackling together with everyone else who was being an audience to the show the two young wizards were mounting. They climbed on top of tables and made Filch follow like a fool. They started Irish dancing on top of the plate of an insufferable Slytherin girl who everyone hated for being a horrid snitch. And when Filch tried to grab them they jumped causing him to fall face first on the ruined food and squash Soronda.

Everyone laughed even harder. The teachers were pretty shook up but you could realise everyone was having a great time watching the two mischievous cousins do all type of stunts around the Great Hall, throwing fireworks and literally threatening teachers, telling them to beware for the pranks they would pull that year.

Dominique grimaced when a green cloud of rotten-like smell hit her nostrils. Consecutively she heard her cousin Roxanne curse her brother and cousin. Dominique laughed, even if the smell was making her eyes water. Her cousins were the masters of pranks and they would probably do something much more creative than just a stinky cloud that would ruin everyone's appetite during welcoming feast. Of course, they did something much better.

The Potter and the Weasley on the spotlight waved their wands and the green cloud of stinking smoke, that had entered the Great Hall a few moments ago, flew directly towards the teachers' table were it stuck. Teachers immediately started standing up and running away from it but wherever they went a small green cloud followed. Students burst out in laughter when they saw Professor Gurnich, a petite fat old lady who always wore emerald green clothes and tiny hats on her head, ran off waving her hands like mad. Obviously, nobody really liked her much.

For their grand finale the two young pranksters threw all type of Weasley Wheezes products into the air; products that started exploding, dancing, moving, screeching, throwing coloured confetti and many other things that the teachers, being occupied by stinking clouds, could not control.

The two third year students then charmed two new clouds, these purple, to come out of their wands. They used this as a diversion to disappear from the Great Hall, leaving behind noisy, screeching toys, amazed students, dazzled, stinky teachers and a message. This year they would not give a rat's arse if they were busted as long as they were able to pull off their pranks.

That was the most memorable meal Dominique ever had. She had never been more surprised and she had laughed as crazy, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets and her sides aching like she had run for kilometres non-stop.

Dom found herself walking alone towards the Gryffindor common room an hour later. The pleasant feeling that having a good laugh leaves in your body hadn't worn off but she wasn't as ecstatic as before. She had taken the longest way towards the common room and the dorms because she had missed the school so much. She hadn't missed going to class nor doing homework but she did miss the castle and all its glory.

She was walking through the second floor corridor when she heard the discussion. She ran towards the end of the hallway and turned the corner before freezing on the spot. Right there in front of her, just a few metres away, she could see one of her best friends, Lauren, discussing with Melissa, a bitchy Hufflepuff. Between the two of them stood Henry, his expression betrayed guilt and he had in one side of his neck a fading, pink mark.

Dominique gasped, they were fighting over Henry, Lauren's boyfriend, and she was pretty sure he had been making out with Melissa just a few moments ago. A small crowd was gathering around the discussing girls and the guilty, backstabbing boy. Dominique quickly processed what was going on and stepped in to defend her friend.

"What on earth is going on here?" she asked menacingly. "And why do you have a hickey Henry?"

Henry suddenly found a whole new interest in his filthy shoes. He did not dare look at anyone in the eye, especially not Lauren, who looked broken hearted in the middle of all that mess. Dominique was outraged, she felt completely humiliated. _How was it possible that someone could hurt poor, sweet Lauren that way? _Dominique definitively did not understand.

Melissa ignored the Weasley completely and instead kept talking on top of her, towards Lauren.

"It is not my fault that you don't know how to keep a boyfriend satisfied, or that you are way too ugly to get a decent boyfriend who will not cheat on you."

Dom's face went red in anger whilst Lauren's went red with shame. She breathed in loudly before answering to what that idiotic girl had just said. "_Excuse me?_ Isn't it you the one who needs to go after someone else's boyfriend because every single boy runs away from you? And if you don't think Henry's decent then you should sort out your priorities since it was you the one sucking on his neck a few moments ago. And _please_," Dominique started speaking louder when she saw Melissa was going to reply. "Let's not forget that not-decent is _exactly_ what you are and therefore you make perfect couple. Now if you_'_ll excuse us, we have better things to do than to be talking to trash like you."

Dominique gave her back to Melissa and she then wrapped an arm around Lauren. Immediately, she felt a need to turn back around again, as if she was in some kind of danger. When she did so she was just in time to see a hand taking a shot towards Lauren's hair, but before she could do anything to prevent it another hand shot out to the air and grabbed Melissa's wrist. It was Henry's and his face was the one of someone ready to kill. Dominique had never seen him so angry, ever. His voice had a deadly calm tone when he spoke.

"Do not dare." He said, spitting flames through his eyes, towards Melissa. That was enough to convince Dominique to butt out. She left and she took Lauren with her, whispering in her ear supportive words and comments.

What a way to end a night that had been so magical. When they finally got to their dormitory Lauren collapsed in her bed and started to cry. The rest of their roommates looked at Dominique questioningly but she only shook her head and signalled them to go console their friend. "She'll explain later, when she is ready."

The four girls who were not crying surrounded Lauren and they started giving her comforting pats in her back, together with nice 'massages' and supportive comments. Finally, when Lauren was able to control her sobs and say coherent words, she sat up and explained the whole story, starting when she had caught Melissa and Henry snogging, and almost doing it, in the middle of the second floor corridor, till the moment when Melissa tried to pull her hair and Henry stopped her.

"That son of a bitch!" Charlie exclaimed.

"That skanky slut!" Sam added.

Annie though, made the most dirty mouthed, and the most supportive comments. "That little whore is going to suffer through life before rotting in the bloody hell and that disgusting, bloody bastard is going to have a little taste of what a real bad-ass can do to you. At the end of the week his face will look so fucking ugly Headmistress McGonagall will have to send him back home for scaring the bloody first years."

Everyone blinked and stared at her. How it was possible that sweet, innocent, peaceful, studying Annie could ever say something like that no one knew. But they were all really impressed and very proud.

"Nice job Annie," Charlie congratulated her.

"Thanks, everything I said was true."

"Hell yeah it was, though I'm not sure it was completely coherent but still…" Sam shrugged.

Lauren had started sobbing once again and everyone's attention was back to her. "Darling don't worry. I know this might come out as a cliché but that guy _really_ didn't deserve someone as good as you. You are going to find someone much better who will love you much more." Dominique patted her shoulder and hugged her by intervals.

"I know all that crap. And I know I will find someone one day, some time. But that doesn't mean it can't hurt. I feel completely betrayed and humiliated, without counting heartbroken!" She started crying again.

"I know darling, I know. Get it off your chest. And don't worry, Annie is right. They, both of them, don't know what is coming."

Lauren smiled a watery smile. She let out a small sob before thanking her friends and telling them how amazing they were. Everyone "aww-ed…" and "you too-ed" everyone else. Dominique thought this will be, no doubt, a very interesting, very long year, but she also knew it was going to be the year she would feel closest to her friends. And she was willing to take the challenge.

Late at night, after everyone had pulled on their pajamas and fell sound asleep, Dom laid in bed thinking about her friends, her family and what this year could possibly hold in store for her. _There is one thing I know it's happening for sure,_ she thought to herself, _tomorrow Fred, James and I are avenging Lauren, she deserves it._

Maybe this year had had a rough start but it was going to have an amazing development, after all, it was her fifth year and she was going to share it with some of the most awesome people in the world, her friends.

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**Hi! Please review! It would be amazing! Anything helps _Please_****! Thank you for reading!**


	4. Romance in the air

**Disclaimer: Everything but the plot and the OC characters is JK Rowling´s!**

* * *

Lauren woke up to the rays of a beautiful sunshine. Through the window you could see the emerald lawns and the forbidden forest of Hogwarts. Further towards the horizon you could gaze to the borderlines of the amazing mountains, a view you could only see when the day was this clear. Birds were singing and students were chatting excitedly about their first day back all over the school, the true meaning of paradise. It could have not been a worst day.

"Fuck!" She swore. Normally she would love to hear the birds sing during the morning and she would have enjoyed the view. Today was not one of those days. "Is by any chance the universe screwing with me? Why the bloody hell is so nice out there, it should be a miserable day."

"Oh come on sweetheart you are better off without him, Universe is just trying to say so."

"That is not a valid argument when it comes to Henry. He is sweet and smart and funny and, let´s face it, hot. And, once upon a time, he was a loyal, respectful bloke. How is it that I am better off without him?"

"You can now flirt and snog _and _shag as many quidditch players and regular blokes as you please and you can enjoy the self-esteem buster." Charlie always made such interesting points.

"heegs righft." Sam tried to agree from the bathroom, her toothbrush in her mouth.

"What!"

Sam spit out into the sink and then answered frustrated "I said she´s right Lauren, teenager-hood has been made to enjoy meeting new boys and having fun, going to wild parties and enjoying every single minute of it. You can´t have that if you have an exclusive relationship with someone, it is way too… Exclusive."

Lauren rolled her eyes and smiled. Sam had always so many interesting ideas. She then realized something that sank her heart and melted her smile into a frown. "Apparently my relationship wasn´t that entirely exclusive was it?"

"Aww darling don´t worry. You´ll find someone better." Annie chimed in sweetly. Lauren smiled, not so convinced this time, before realizing the absence of one person in particular, "Where´s Dom?"

"She woke up early, she´s been called to Prefect´s duty."

* * *

Dominique walked through the corridor early in the morning. It was a Monday, which was something tragic in her mind. She was exhausted, she just hated mornings, and they drained all of her energy, all that waking up and getting up. She awkwardly rubbed her eyes and dragged her feet on the floor, slowly advancing forward towards the Great Hall.

Dominique Weasley was a person that someone would usually describe as a nice, talkative person, except if they met her or crossed paths with her before her breakfast. Those were not the moments you wanted to encounter Dominique Weasley, she loathed mornings with all her heart and soul.

"Dom!" The sound of that voice in particular though, made her heart skip a beat. She turned around hopefully, a smile already drawing in her face. She saw a, moderately tall, bloke trotting towards her. He had grown a few inches since the last time she had seen him and his sandy blonde hair had grown lighter because of the sun and heat of the summer.

He had a great tan (probably acquired in Spain) and his arms were rather muscular, which was another summer acquaintance. His smile was as big as hers the moment he reached her and for some reason everything looked rather brighter and more colourful now that he was near.

Dom extended her arms and reached for him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Chris wrapped his arms around her waist and squashed her in the biggest bear hug he could manage. She let out a sigh of relief; she had not realized how much she had missed him over the summer until she had him so close.

"I´ve missed you." Christopher whispered gently in Dominique´s ear, which made her skin tingle pleasantly. For some reason she had missed him more than ever and he quenched the fierce bad mood and the strange aching her body felt, like she was being drawn to something she could not see or reach, drawn to something she did not know she wanted until she had it.

"I missed you too, so much." Chris smiled. For some reason, the fact that Dom actually felt that way made him feel some sort of warmth in his stomach.

"Good," he replied after they broke apart the long hug. "You ought to." They both laughed calmly. Chris bowed slightly and pointed his arms towards the direction to the great hall. "Care for some breakfast?"

"Do you even have to ask?" And both teenagers parted towards the Great Hall, ready for some pumpkin juice and toasts. They talked over breakfast and caught up with everything that had happened to one another. Normally they would not have been able to do so, being in different houses and all, but there was so little people in the Great Hall that no one cared to stop them, so they both sat at the Ravenclaw table.

"Oh I almost forgot to tell you, Nat is getting married!"

"Merlin are you serious? That is awesome, who´s the bloke?" Natalia was Chris´ sister and a very close friend to Dominique despite the age difference.

"You don´t know him, he´s Irish and an impressive quidditch player. He has offers from Ireland´s team but he is probably going to reject them, he wants to work here in England. You are invited to the wedding by the way. You and Sam of course."

Dominique beamed, she was ecstatic by the idea of attending to a wedding but also because this meant she would spend time with Chris for sure.

* * *

Lauren and Sophie walked out of Muggle studies together. Sophie was a French girl, her hair was rather frizzy and light brown. Her eyes were pale blue and she had tons of freckles over her cheeks. Her face was very thin and angular and she wore a pair of trimmed rectangular glasses. Sophie was Lauren´s best friend. Of course her roommates were too but Sophie was very special. She belonged to the Ravenclaw house and she had been a bit socially awkward when she had first entered Hogwarts.

Her speaking had never been heavily accented but after four consecutive years of going to school in England, you could barely notice how she prolonged the s a bit and her bizarre pronunciation of the letter r.

"Sweetheart you sure you are ok? I mean he did cheat on you darling, you can always get mad."

"I _am_mad." Lauren answered defensively.

"I mean madder, like go give him what he deserves madder."

"I guess I feel I´d only be putting myself through more pain and embarrassment by doing so."

Sophie shrugged and decided to drop the subject. Lauren was a sweet girl, sometimes too sweet for her taste, but once she made up her mind about something there was no changing it. "You sure are special." Was the only thing she dared telling her.

* * *

_Darling, your father is a tad worse than he was when you first left. Don´t worry though, we are still fine and you should keep your focus on your studies, still the healers told me not to keep to myself. They said he might not make it through the whole year so, later on, you are coming back home for a few weeks._

_Ps Don´t forget to feed the owl._

The letter was short and simple. Her father was not going to live another year. There was nothing else to do but to leave school for a couple of weeks and spend the last of his miserable hours with him.

A warm crystal tear slid through her face, she was going to cry and she was not going to be able to help it. And so she ran and locked herself in the bathroom; no one could know what was going on. Neither about her crying nor about her father´s state. She was going to do what her mom told her to do, focus on her studies, the rest, she would deal with later.

* * *

Victoire sat in her room, letter on her lap and an awed expression on her face. She could not believe her eyes, she was paralyzed from awe. A strange but pleasant warmth spread through her body and her lips slowly curved into an astonishing smile.

She re-read the letter once more in order to make sure her mind was not playing tricks on her. It said in his atrocious and lovely handwriting:

_Dear Vic,_

_Today I finally got the job I wanted in Gringotts, I owe a lot to your father by the way, and I am living out of my own salary, which is quite ok and it will get better. They told me that for now I was being tested but if I proved myself worthy I would get a permanent job. I also wanted to tell you that I bought a flat. It is not very big but it is quite spacey. It has two bathrooms, a master bedroom and two slightly smaller rooms, a living room and a dining room and it has a very nice kitchen._

_Now, as you can see, this is quite big for just one person to enjoy and I was wondering how you would feel about moving in with me after you finished your time at Hogwarts._

_With love,_

_Teddy Lupin._

* * *

Charlie was alone and immersed in her own thoughts while she strolled by the lake. She was thinking about her family back home, her little sister and her father, such a sweet man living with his two daughters and without a wife since the latter left him one day, completely out of the blue.

Charlie did not really mind about her mother leaving. She was never a good mom to begin with, but what made Charlie hate the human being that gave birth to her and her beloved little sister, was the capacity of said person to hurt her father, John was one of the most generous persons in the whole world and the fact that someone was capable of hurting him in such ways broke Charlie´s heart.

Her little sister felt different though, it made her sad that her mother was not around. She sometimes felt guilty because of her mother leaving and that only made Charlie madder. She hated her mother for hurting the people she loved and cared about so much.

She was thinking about this horrible example of a person and how it should have been that horrendous woman the one to be cheated on and not someone like Lauren, sweet generous and gentle Lauren, when she walked into someone.

He was taller than her and he was pretty fit. His arms had muscles and he had a hard chest and abs, she could tell because she had just bumped against them. His face was very gentle and he seemed as a nice person, his hair was brown and his eyes were a light greyish green. He had some freckles on his cheeks and a nice, white smile.

"Sorry I didn´t see you there." He apologized.

"No worries it was my fault, I should be the one apologizing." Charlie´s soft chocolate brown skin looked exquisite in the late sun´s light and her white smile and perfect figure looked completely dazzling. Of course she was not aware of this, she never was.

The boy was left completely awe struck, he had never seen such a beautiful girl as the one standing in front of her.

"It was obviously my fault; no one is supposed to be standing there like a complete idiot, obstructing the path of beautiful girls like you." Charlie smiled at the sappy comment. It was nice that boys like him were able to say sweet things like that. "My name is Alexander," he introduced himself. "And you are…"

"I am Charlie."

"Pleased to meet you Charlie, I guess I´ll be seeing you around?"

Charlie nodded and the mysterious boy, Alexander, turned around and walked off towards the castle. He smiled when he knew that intriguing girl, Charlie, could not see him. He knew he had just made a good impression and he liked the feeling. He had never believed in love at first sight but no one said anything about fancying.

* * *

Fred and James sat in their usual seats in the common room, heads near and mouths moving as fast as lightning as they plotted their next prank. They had a specific target in their minds and they were not going to be merciful this time.

Their usual partner in crime, Nicholas Jordan sat behind them and listened intently. He nodded when he agreed and only interjected in their conversation when he saw a flaw in their plan. For them a prank was a piece of art and this piece was inspired by a muggle phrase Rose had told them during the summer: _revenge is a dish better served cold._

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**Please review! Anything helps! Thanks!**


	5. Aperitifs

**Hey! So... This chapter is a bit short, but I wasn't sure what to do and I stared at it so many times, but there is nothing I want to change about it. Still I hope you, who ever is reading, enjoys this and I'm sorry for taking so long, reality caught up with me.**

* * *

Today was the day, no more waiting, no more scheming, today was _the_ day.

Fred and James sat at the Gryffindor table having a nice breakfast and talking absentmindedly about the weather as if it were an ordinary, uneventful day. Secretly, they watched their preys attentively.

Their victim, Henry Boot sat comfortably in his Slytherin table. He ate his breakfast silently and longingly glancing, with a sorrow expression, at Lauren every five seconds. It was almost pitiful enough to abort the plan, a_lmost_.

Their second victim, Melissa-hated-by all-Weasley-clan Rivers, sat in her table. The Hufflepuff girl dared to look at Lauren once. After seeing her expression, which betrayed sadness, though it was well disguised, her mouth twitched up into a smug smile.

As previously mentioned, Fred and James sat at their table, they had now stopped glancing around and they had focused their attention to one person in particular, Victim Number One. They smiled, identical idiotic, vindictive grins, whilst Henry took a bite of what looked like a pumpkin pasty (which had been purposefully placed next to him by uncle Harry´s ancient house elf, Kreacher).

What Henry was really eating was one of the Weasley Wheezes Products that made your face explode with horrible pimples, full of pus or a yellowish substance of the sort. This was merely something to laugh before the real stuff came up, an aperitif, still the boys thought of it necessary.

The two mischievous boys watched as Henry took a bite, opened his eyes wide and gagged a little before tons of horrible, infected looking pimples burst out in his face and it turned a weird looking shade of purple (an extra something the boys added to the product). One of his friends, the one that sat at his immediate right, took one look at his face and spit his food, roaring with laughter.

James and Fred looked at each other and grinned while the rest of the people at the Great Hall (which were just a few but enough audience for a small trick like that one) started to notice Henry´s face and joined Alexander with laughter.

Henry, baffled, looked at his reflection in a spoon before darting out of the Great Hall towards the infirmary. The cousins smiled at their own competence, ate the rest of their toast and went to the common room to meet Thomas; they had a strict timetable to comply with.

* * *

**Well that's all, I hope you've enjoyed it! Do leave a review, you would be making someone ****_very_**** happy. And you are welcome to suggest anything you want to read on the next chapter and or ideas for a prank. I gave it a lot of thought and I got an idea already but if you give me more ideas I will try to add them or just change the original idea for it, or something. Thank you so muchh!**

**XOXO**


	6. Odd feelings

**Heyy!**

**Sooo, I´m sorry about the shotness of the previous chapter and I really hope you enjoy this one! There is some explanations to some issues of the story in this chapter that I´ll guess will leave things a bit clearer. Have a good reading! ;)**

**XOXO**

**Luna :D**

* * *

Dominique woke up and saw the time at her alarm clock; she was already late to class, _again._ She cursed out loud to no one in particular and started to get dressed. She knew that her tardiness was going to get her on trouble real soon, and as much as she wanted to avoid it, she never seemed able to get out of bed so early, just because a clock told herto do so.

She put her uniform on, the skirt an inch shorter than mandatory, crooked, as she always put it on when being already late for class. She put her shoes on, grabbed her backpack and flew down the stairs to class while arranging her scarlet and golden tie. If she skipped breakfast and ran real hard, maybe she could make it just on time.

Her friends had stopped to wake her up during fourth year when she accidentally broke Liz´s nose with a punch. Madame Pomfrey´s apprentice, Ms. Laurence, had fixed it in less than a minute, but her friends never attempted to arouse her ever again. As she thought of this, she rushed through the corridors, avoiding the sea of first year students who found themselves lost and disturbing the elder students, obstructing their way to class.

A shriek reached Dom´s ears just as she turned the corner and entered the corridor where Professor Gurnich´s class was located. Melissa stood under the doorway, soaking wet and shivering. Her hair was tangled and her clothes seemed to get damper every time she attempted at drying it with magic. Something, which looked suspiciously like ice cubes, floated in the puddle at Melissa´s feet.

Professor Gurnich came out of her office and immediately went to aid the soaking girl. She transfigured a curtain into a towel and sent her to her room to get dry and put on some fresh clothes. "_Well maybe she won´t notice me now." _Dom thought to herself, as she went to her desk beside Lauren, trying to go unnoticed.

-Where the heck have you been? - Lauren sent her a disapproving look.

-Where do you think? I was _sleeping! –_ Lauren rolled her eyes as the transfigurations teacher took her place at the front of the room. She addressed her students and started her lecture, meanwhile Dominique held her breath, hoping Merlin would take pity on her and make her teacher oblivious of her tardiness. It did not work.

After finishing her lecture, Miranda Gurnich gave her back to the class and wrote some of the high lights of her lesson on the small blackboard.

-I´m glad you could join us Dominique, and I hope you can join me this Saturday in detention too. – She said with a sickly sweet voice, her back still to her students. – Don´t be late this time. – She added in a harsher voice.

Dominique sighed and started copying everything to her notebook, a grim expression stuck on her face.

As the day progressed, things didn´t get much better. After earning a detention with Professor Gurnich she was also given butt loads of homework for potions and herbology class. By the time lunch came she already had to essays, due Monday of the next week, two feet long each, she had to master three charms, be able to recognize at least two of the plants you used for antidotes, how to harvest them and when. She was screwed.

-Hey sleeping beauty, how you´ve been on this marvelous day? – Chris appeared right next to her on the Gryffindor table.

-How d´you know I over slept today?-

-You stood me up for breakfast today, I figured you were still sleeping, and you just confirmed my suspicions. So, how you`ve been?

-Alright I guess. Sorry about breakfast, I´ll make it up to you tomorrow, what do you think of caramel waffles? I can ask Kreacher for some if you want, I´m sure he can make an exception.

-I can´t, Cassandra asked me to sit with her tomorrow. You had any classes with Melissa or Henry today?

-Yeah, transfigurations with Hufflepuff, who´s Cassandra?

- She´s just a girl from fourth year, Josh says she fancies me quite a lot, he overheard her and a friend talking. Your cousins charmed them so that every time they open a door or even cross a doorway, a bucket full of ice-cold water appears and drops over them, they are genius.

-Do you fancy her back? I mean, do you want something to do with her?

-I don´t know, I guess I´ll figure it out right?

-I guess you will.

-Yeah well tell your cousins how fantastic they are for me okay? Lauren never deserved what she got.

-Where are you going?

-To sit on my table, darling. As much as I love you I can´t stay under McGonagall´s evil glare much longer.

Dom nodded and looked away as Chris left her table, an annoying and mysterious feeling gnawing at her stomach. She felt angry all of a sudden and a wave of bad mood attacked her for the rest of the day. She was feeling rather… _odd._

* * *

A single tear slid down Sam´s cheek and she quickly wiped it away. She found herself alone in a deserted classroom, running away from her friends and their cheery moods and re-reading her mom´s letter. It had few letters and she could spot the blotches were her tear drops had fallen while reading it for the first time.

Her mother was one of the most sensitive persons she had ever known so it had probably taken all of her strength not to cry while writing the blasted words.

-No wonder the letter´s so short. – Sam said out loud.

-Excuse me? – A boy asked from the doorway. She jumped a little and turned around. The boy in the doorway had dark brown hair, almost black, and a slightly golden skin. His eyes were chocolate brown and his smile was white and with straight teeth, He looked really friendly and likeable, Sam _hated it._ As he realized Sam´s puffy eyes the corners of his mouth dropped and his expression changed to one of worry.

-Are you okay? – Sam started again, but she recovered quickly. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed once, and, just like that, any evidence of her crying disappeared.

-Yeah sure. Why did you come in? –

-Oh sorry, thought I heard you talk that´s all. - Said the boy, very confused and worried.

-No, sorry, just talking to myself. –

The boy nodded slowly, unsure. He was worried about this girl, even though she seemed tough and he didn´t really know her, he felt like she could use a friend.

-What the hell do you want? – Sam snapped suddenly.

-N-Nothing, I just want to help, though I´m not sure how. You sure look like you could use someone to talk to. And I do have a few minutes before potions class. – He shrugged, trying to show her that he meant no harm.

-I´m sorry. I´m not in a good mood, it´s been a rotten day.

-I can see. – Sam shot him a dirty look. –I mean, I figured. So, what happened, if I may ask? Did your boyfriend leave you? Or is it trouble at home? – The boy looked sincerely concerned and for some reason unknown, even to herself, Sam decided to trust him with her troubles and torments.

-My dad is dying. He´s been sick for a few years now, but he got worse a few months back, now the healers said that he´ll die before the year is over, and I won´t be able to see him anymore. My sister is going to have to go through so much without his support and my little brother will have no male figure to look up to when he grows up. And I will no longer have a friend at home with whom I can play quidditch. – Sam sniffed and a stray tear escaped her eye. She cursed and wiped it away quickly, beating herself up for showing this stranger that she was weak, that she cried.

The nameless boy stayed quiet for a moment. Then he slowly approached her until he was just some inches away. –I´m sorry to hear that. I´m sure he is a great man and even a better wizard; he must be if someone like you loves him so much.

-You don´t even know him, or me.-

-I can tell how great you are just by talking to you and that´s enough to imagine your father. –

Sam shot him a distrustful look, which slowly morphed into a grateful one. –Thanks. –

-Well at least it wasn´t boy trouble, _that_ I´m horrible with. And if it makes you feel any better, I lost a parent too, so I know what you are going through.

-Why would it make me feel better that you also went through this hell?

-Because now you know that there´s someone out there that you can relate to. - He answered softly.

-Sorry, it does make me feel better, if you put it that way. And stop talking about my _boyfriend_ because I don´t have one.-

-Well _that_ I´m glad to hear. - The boy said enthusiastically. Sam grinned widely, an honest smile, something she hadn´t done in a while. –Well look at that, you have a smile and a beautiful one too. - Said the boy. –How lucky am I for earning it?-

-Quite lucky I should say. - This time it was the boy´s turn to laugh. He stood up and held a hand out for her.

-Come on let´s go. - Sam raised an eyebrow at him. –I´m sure you don´t want to spend the rest of the day sitting on this nasty dirty floor now do you? - He _had_ a point. –Come on, you´ll freeze your butt off. - She gave him her hand and allowed him to help her up. He had made an _excellent_ point this time.

-I´m Leo by the way. – The, now not so nameless, boy told her.

-I´m Sam. – She smiled at him, and left him dazzled and awed. This was a strange girl for sure but she was an amazing one too. And she was making some odd feelings stir inside of him.

-It´s nice to meet you Sam, though I would´ve preferred other circumstances.-Sam sighed. –Me too.-

* * *

-Hey-Charlie stumbled and dropped her book. When she took this corridor she had thought it was completely deserted. Turned out it wasn´t.

-Oh hey. Umm…

Alexander put a hand on his chest and feigned deep hurt. –You mean you don´t remember me? Even if I´m the hottest bloke you ever met? - The boy said indignation evident in his voice. Charlie rolled her eyes and smiled.

-I do remember who you are, I mean, who could _ever_ forget those arms? - Alexander looked confused, and that made Charlie laugh harder. –I can joke around too you know?-

– Go figure, the world _is_ going crazy after all. - He smiled at Charlie a lopsided grin, which caused Charlie to roll her eyes yet _again_. –I never thought I would find a girl that actually enjoyed _and_ was able to manage sarcasm. I have to say that I am surprised.

-Well that is utterly sexist isn´t it?-

-Might be, but it´s the truth, you´re the first girl who can keep up with me when I joke around instead of just laughing and swooning thinking everything I say is true.-

-I´m glad to hear that I guess. – She answered not totally sure of what she was supposed to say or feel about that. Charlie shifted her heavy books from one arm to the other, and that was when Alexander noticed how much weight she carried. As he was about to offer some help though, Charlie gave three books.

-Here, help me out with these. - She didn´t stutter or stumble with her words and she didn´t blink as she said it. She didn´t even need to slow up her stride to give him the books. Alexander found himself awestruck and speechless, this was the first girl she had ever encountered who was so sure of herself. And she sure stirred up some odd feelings inside of him, he desperately hoped he wouldn´t end like those boys that are completely head over heels for a girl and completely dumbstruck by love.

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**Well I hope you have enjoyed this chapter! And I hope that it managed to stay within your expectations. You can always PM and give me any suggestions to anything you want to be part of the story or that you think I should add, or take.**

**Please review! I really appreciatte anything you wanna tell me (preferably nice things hehe ;)**


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